Editor’s Corner with Catherine Kean

Today we have the pleasure of meeting Catherine Kean, one of the editors on the Entangled team.

Take it away, Catherine!

Words. They are impressive things. Simple in that they are made up of letters, just 26 to choose from. Complex, though, in what they accomplish. Words string together like beads of assorted shapes and sizes to form sentences. Some words are smooth and round like pearls, an easy flow of consonants and vowels (like “sunshine” and “hush.”) Others are hard, like glinting crystals with sharp edges (like “cataclysmic” and “staccato”). In their unique shapes and sizes, words help to link together paragraphs that flow, one after another, like the drape of an intricate necklace, to form scenes and chapters. Words are the bling of every great book.

Words, though, have even greater responsibilities. Each individual word has its own power: a meaning that belongs to that word alone because of the specific arrangement of the letters. One wrong word in a sentence can make it confusing, even meaningless: for example, Alison was thrilled to find that the pink satin amoeba with the beaded neckline was on sale at Macy’s. (Say what?!) The right word in the right place? It gleams, makes the whole sentence bright with clarity and expression. Example: Alison was thrilled to find that the pink satin blouse with the beaded neckline was on sale.

Words touch every part of our lives, from phone calls with best friends to writing school term papers to listening to the radio while driving our kids to school. Words help us convey our thoughts, dreams, discontents, and ambitions–even fantastical worlds that exist only in our imaginations. They’re essential to the writer, for with different colors and textures, words bring to life characters and settings, and deliver dialogue, action, and conflict.

Each author has a unique way of stringing words together (this is known as author voice), and as such uses words to describe, shock, intrigue, foreshadow, excite, and entice. As both an author and an associate editor, I adore the complexity of words, especially how they help to create vivid story worlds that captivate readers. Thanks to words, we have great books to enjoy, from literary classics to popular fiction bestsellers–and many stories yet to be discovered.

♥ ♥ ♥

Catherine Kean, Associate Editor
Multi-award-winning historical and contemporary romance author Catherine Kean double-majored in English and History (first class) at the University of Victoria, B.C., Canada. Her historical novels have garnered numerous accolades, including two Reviewer’s Choice Awards and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.

Catherine enjoys historical romance novels with lush settings and strong emotional conflicts between the hero and heroine. She loves all kinds of historical settings—medieval castles, pirate ships, Regency ballrooms, and Victorian drawing rooms, to name a few—as well as historicals with pararnormal or fantasy elements. Snappy contemporaries with or without fantasy or paranormal elements are also on her wish list.